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iii. 2. If any man offend not in word, the Compare 2 Pet. ii. 15. Jude 11. Rev. ii. 14. same is a perfect man.

TENTH COMMANDMENT.

COVETOUSNESS.

CXCIX. Of covetousness. Exod. xx. 17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man servant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. Deut. v. 21. Rom. vii. 7.

xiii. 9.

Ps. cxix. 36. Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.

1 Cor. v. 11. I have written to you, if any one that is called a brother, be covetous, &c. with such a one, no, not to eat.

Eph. v. 3. Covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints.

Col. iii. 5. Mortify your members, &c. and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Heb. xiii. 5. Let your conversation be with

out covetousness.

CC. Threatenings against covetous persons. Ps. x. 3. The wicked blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth.

Isa. lvii. 17. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth, and smote him.

Jer. vi. 12, 13. Their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields. For from the least of them even to the greatest, every one is given to covetousness. Ch. viii. 10.

xxii. 17-19. Thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness. Therefore, saith the Lord, they shall not lament for him, (viz. Jehoiakim.) He shall be buried with the burial of an ass.

li. 13. O Babylon, thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness.

Mic. ii. 1, 2. Woe to them, they covet fields, and take them by violence.

Hab. ii. 9. Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, that he may set his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil.

Mark vii. 22, 23. Thefts, covetousness, &c.

defile the man.

Rom. i. 29. Being filled with all unrighte ousness, covetousness, &c.-Ver. 32. They that commit such things are worthy of death.

1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? neither thieves, nor covetous, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

Eph. v. 5. No covetous man hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. See Ezek. xxxiii. 28. 31.

See instances of covetous persons punished. Balaam, Numb. Chap. xxii. and xxiii.

-His death, Num. xxxi. 8. 16.-Achan, Josh. vii. 5 to 25.-Ahab, 1 Kings xxi. I to 16. 19, &c. 2 Kings ix. 25.

CCI. An insatiable desire of riches. Prov. xv. 27. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house.

xxvii. 20. Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.

Eccl. iv. 8. There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother; yet there is no end of his labour, neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good? This is also vanity; it is a sore travail.

v. 10. He that loveth silver, shall not be satisfied with silver; neither he that loveth abundance with increase.

CCII. Threats against unjust measures of acquiring riches. Prov. i. 18, 19. They lay wait for their own blood, they lurk privily for their own lives. So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain, which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.

Matt. xvi. 26. What is a man profited, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Job xxvii. 8, 9. For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God taketh away his soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble cometh upon him?

1 Tim. vi. 9, 10. They that will be rich fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.-Ver. 11. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. See James iv.

13. 16.

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carry nothing away; his glory shall not descend after him.

Eccl. v. 15. As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came; and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand.

Job i. 21. Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return.

1 Tim. vi. 7. We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing

out.

CCV. Possessing riches but not using them; the vanity thereof. Prov. xiii. 7. There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing. There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath

great riches. Eccl. vi. 1, 2.-ii. 26.

CCVI. Riches are attended with care and trouble. Eccl. ii. 4. I made me great works, I builded me houses, I planted me vineyards, &c. (to ver. 10.) Ver. 11. I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do; and behold all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit.

Ver. 22, 23. For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart wherein he hath laboured? For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night.

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v. 11, 12. When goods increase, they are increased that eat them; and what good is there to the owners thereof, saving the beholding of them with their eyes? The abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.

Ver. 13. I have seen riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.-Ver. 16, 17. What profit hath he that laboureth for the wind? All his days he eateth in darkness, and hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness.

ix. 11. Riches are not to men of understanding, &c.

Prov. xv. 6. In the revenues of the wicked is trouble.

xxii. 1. A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.

CCVII. Riches recommend no man to the favour of God. Job xxxiv. 19. God accepteth not the persons of princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor.

xxxvi. 19. Will he esteem thy riches? No, not gold, nor all the forces of strength.

Prov. xi. 4. Riches profit not in the day of wrath.

xxii. 2. The rich and poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all.

Ezek. vii. 19. Their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them, in the day of the wrath of the Lord. Zeph. i. 18.

Mark xii. 41-44. Many that were rich cast much into the treasury of the temple. A poor widow cast in two mites, which make a farthing. Jesus said, This poor widow hath cast in more than they all: For they did cast in of their abundance; but she did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Luke i. 53. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.

See the parable of the rich fool, Luke xii, 20, &c. And of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19 to 25.

hath over another by means of riches. Prov. CCVIII. The advantages which one mun x. 15. The rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty. Chap. xviii. 11.

xiii. 8. The ransom of a man's life are his Eccl. vii. 12. riches.

xiv. 20. The poor is hated even of his neighbour, but the rich hath many friends Chap. xix. 4.

Ver. 24. The crown of the wise is their riches,

Eccl. ix. 16. The poor man's wisdom is despised and his words are not heard.

Prov. xxii. 7. The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender. xviii. 23. The poor useth entreaties, but the rich answereth roughly

CCIX. Trusting in riches and abusing them, the sin of the wicked, and avoided by the good. Job xxxi. 24, 25. 28. If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence-If I rejoiced be cause my wealth was great, and because my hand had gotten much-I should have denied the God that is above.

Ps. xlix. 6, 7. They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him. Ver. 8. 14.

lii. 5. God shall destroy thee for ever.-Ver. 7. Lo, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches.

lxii. 10. If riches increase, set not your heart upon them.

Prov. xi. 28. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall.

x. 15. The rich man's wealth is his strong city, and a high wall in his own conceit. Chap. xviii. 11.

xxviii. 11. The rich man is wise in his own conceit.

Jer. ix. 23. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the

mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich | ding, and they would not come.-Ver. 5. They man glory in his riches.

Mark x. 24. How hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God! Ver. 25.

1 Tim. vi. 17. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.

James ii. 6. Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment-seats?

CCX. Riches take the heart and thoughts off from God and religion. Deut. viii. 12. Beware, lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and when thy herds and thy flocks are multiplied, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied; then thy heart be lifted up, and thou forget the Lord thy God, and thou say in thy heart, My power and the might of my hand hath gotten me this wealth. Ver. 13, 14. 17, 18.

xxxii. 13, 14. The Lord made Jacob ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock; butter of kine and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape.-Ver. 15. But Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked: thou art waxen fat, thou art grown thick, thou art covered with fatness; then he forsook God which made him, and lightly esteemed the Rock of his salvation.

Hos. ii. 8, 9. She did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold. Therefore will I return and take away my corn, &c. Ezek. xvi. 6 to 20. Amos viii. 5. The wicked say, When will the Sabbath be gone, that we may set forth wheat?

Matt. viii. 34. Those who lost their swine, entreated Jesus to depart out of their coasts. xiii. 22. The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

xix. 21. Jesus said to the young man, If thou wilt be perfect, go sell that thou hast and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and come and follow me.-Ver. 22. When the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great posses

sions.

Ver. 24. Jesus said, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mark x. 23-25.

xxii. 2, 3. Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son; and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wed

made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise. Luke xiv. 16 to 20.

Luke xvi. 14. The Pharisees, who were covetous, heard these things spoken by Christ against covetousness, and derided him.

Acts xvi. 19. Those who lost their worldly gain by Paul's casting out a spirit of divination, raise a tumult against him.

xix. 24. Demetrius and his craftsmen do the same, for Paul's preaching against idolatry, by which they had their wealth.

2 Cor. iv. 4. Satan is called the god of this world. Luke iv. 7. He tempted Christ with riches, to worship him.

Phil. iii. 19. The wicked, whose end is destruction, mind earthly things.

1 Tim. vi. 10. The love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they erred from the faith.

2 Tim. iv. 10. Demas hath forsaken me, (saith Paul) having loved this present world. James iv. 4. Whosoever will be a friend of the world, is the enemy of God.

1 John iv. 5. They are of the world; therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. See Prov. xxx. 9. Hab. i. 16.

CCXI. The wicked rich man; his portion. Job xx. 15. He hath swallowed down riches, and shall vomit them up again: God shall cast them out of his belly.

xxvii. 16, 17. Though they heap up silver as the dust, and prepare raiment as the clay; (Hab. ii. 6.) he may prepare it, but the just shall put it on, and the innocent shall divide the silver.

Ver. 19. The rich man shall lie down, but he shall not be gathered; he openeth his eyes, and he is not. Ver. 20. 23.

Ps. xvii. 14. O Lord, deliver my soul from men of the world, which have their portion in this life, and whose belly thou fillest with thy hid treasure.

xxxix. 6. He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.

lxxiii. 3. I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.-Ver. 7. Their eyes stand out with fatness; they have more than their heart could wish.-Ver. 12. These are the ungodly; they prosper in the world, they increase in riches.-Ver. 17, 18. I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction. Ps. xxxvii. 1. Job xxi. 7. Jer. xii. 1. Hab. i. 4.

Luke vi. 24. Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation. xvi. 19. A rich man, clothed in purple and

fine linen, fared sumptuously every day.-Ver. | shall be blessed. Wealth and riches shall be 22, 23. He died; and in hell he lifted up his in his house. eyes, being in torment, &c.

Prov. iii. 16. Length of days is in her

James i. 10, 11. As the flower of the grass, [Wisdom's] right hand, and in her left hand the rich man shall fade away. riches and honour. Ch. viii. 18, 19.—xxii. 4. xxiv. 3, 4.

v. 1-3. Ye rich men, weep and howl, for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. See Rev. vi. 15.-xviii. 3. 8. 15. 17.

Eccl. xi. 9.

THE USE OF RICHES.

CCXII. The use of riches in the hands of a wise and good man towards himself. Eccl. iii. 12. There is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice and do good in his life.

v. 18. Behold that which I have seen; it is good and comely for one to eat, and to drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of his life, which God giveth him; for it is his portion.

Ver. 19, 20. Every man also to whom God hath given riches and power to eat thereof, and to take his portion, and to rejoice in his labour; this is the gift of God. For he shall not much remember the days of his life; because God answereth him in the joy of his heart. Ch. ii. 24.-iii. 13.-viii. 15.

For the other uses which riches answer, see in Commandment 5th, Duties of parents toward children, and Of people toward ministers-And Commandment 8th, Duties of

the rich.

CCXIII. God maketh rich. Deut. viii. 18. The Lord thy God, it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth.

1 Sam. ii. 7. The Lord maketh poor, and he maketh rich.

1 Kings iii. 13. The Lord said to Solomon, I have given thee both riches and honour.

1 Chron. xxix. 12. Solomon said to God, Both riches and honour come of thee.

Job i. 21. Job said, The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.

Prov. x. 22. The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Eccl. ii. 26. God giveth to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom and knowledge, and joy but to the sinner he giveth travail, to gather and to heap up, that he may give to him that is good before God. Ch. iii. 13. See Gen. xxiv. 35.

xv. 6. In the house of the righteous is much treasure; but in the revenues of the wicked is trouble.

xxii. 4. By humility, and the fear of the Lord, are riches, and honour, and life.

CCXV. Instances of good men that were rich. Abram, Gen. xiii. 2.-Lot, Gen. xiii. 5.-Isaac, Gen. xxvi. 12, 13, 14.-Jacob, Gen. xxx. 43.-xxxvi. 7.-David, 1 Chron. xxix. 28.-Solomon, 1 Kings iii. 13.—x. 23. Eccl. ii. 4 to 10.—Job, ch. i. 3.—Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. xvii. 5.—Hezekiah, 2 Chron. xxxii. 17 to 31.

CCXVI. Instances of riches not regarded by good men. Gen. xiv. 21. The king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, and said, I will not take any thing that is thine. take the goods to thyself.-Ver. 23. Abram

xxviii. 20, 21. Jacob said, If God will be

with me, and keep me in the way that I go; and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the Lord be my

God.

1 Kings iii. 11. Solomon asked wisdom, and not riches.

neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food Prov. xxx. 8, 9. Agur prayed, Give me thee, and say, Who is the Lord? or lest I be convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.

Gal. vi. 14. Paul said, The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

CCXVII. Those things that are necessary for the support of man's life, promised to the righteous. Food promised. Gen. i. 29. God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for

meat.

ix. 3. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Exod. xxiii. 25. Serve the Lord your God, and he shall bless thy bread and thy water.

Deut. vii. 12, 13. If ye hearken to these judgments, and keep and do them, the Lord thy God will bless the fruit of the land; thy corn and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase CCXIV. Riches promised to the righteous. of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Ver. Ps. cxii. 2, 3. The generation of the upright | 14. Isa. xxx. 23.

viii. 7-9. The Lord thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of the valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, and vines, and fig-trees, and pomegranates; a land of oil and honey; a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou mayest dig brass.-Ver. 10. When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the Lord, for the good land which he hath given thee.

xi. 13-15. If ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments, to love the Lord your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul; I will give you the rain of your land in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou mayest eat and be full.

xxviii. 2. These blessings shall come on thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

Ver. 3-5. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, and the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store.-Ver. 8. The Lord will command his blessing upon thee in thy store-houses.-Ver. 12. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure; the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thy hands; and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. Ch. xxx. 9. xxxiii. 28. Isa. xxx. 23.

Ruth i. 6. The Lord hath visited his people, in giving them bread.

Ps. xxiii. 1. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.-Ver. 5. Thou preparest a table for me, my cup runneth over.

xxxiv. 9. There is no want to them that fear God.-Ver. 10. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

xxxvii. 3. Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Ver. 16. A little that a righteous man hath, is better than the riches of many wicked. (Prov. xvi. 8.) Ver. 25. I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. cvii. 38. He blesseth them, so that they are multiplied greatly; and suffereth not their cattle to decrease.

cxi. 5. He hath given meat unto them that fear him; he will ever be mindful of his co

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feareth the Lord; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thy hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee.

cxxxii. 15. I will abundantly bless her provision, and will satisfy her poor with bread.

Prov. iii. 9, 10. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

x. 3. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish.

xiii. 25. The righteous eateth to the satisfy ing of his soul; but the belly of the wicket shall want.

Isa. xxxiii. 15. He that walketh righteously, bread shall be given him, and his waters shall be sure. Ver. 16.

lxv. 13. Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry; behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty.

Ver. 21-23. They shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build and another inhabit, they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.

Ezek. xxxvi. 29, 30. I will save you from your uncleanness: I will call for the corn, and will increase it; and I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field.

Joel ii. 19. 26. I will send you corn and wine. (Hos. ii. 22.) Ye shall eat in plenty and be satisfied. See Zech. ix. 17.

See Isaac's blessing to his sons, consisting chiefly, (Zech. viii. 12.) of the fruits of the earth, Gen. xxvii. 28. 37. 39. See Acts xiv. 17. See Promises to obedience.

DELIVERANCE FROM FAMINE.

CCXVIII. Deliverance from famine. Job v. 20. In famine he shall redeem thee from death.-Ver. 22. At destruction and famine thou shalt laugh.

Ps. xxxiii. 18, 19. Behold the eye of the Lord is on them that fear him, on them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine.

xxxvii. 19. They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied.

cvii. 9. He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. cxlvi. 7. Which giveth food to the hungry. Isa. xli. 17. When the poor and needy seek

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